After quite a while spent researching options, my wife and I finally purchased ebikes today. We are both in our early seventies, in reasonable physical shape, with a history of “conventional biking”. We chose Specialized Vado 4.0 for me in “medium”, and Como 3.0 for her in “small”.
Leading up to today, we explored Gazelle, Specialized and Trek on line and then visited bike shops to see and ride the bikes. The candidates from this internet review, including heavy EBR usage, were:
Specialized Vado 4.0
Specialized Como 3.0 igh
Specialized Como 3.0
Specialized Como 4.0
Gazelle C8 ultimate
Gazelle C380 ultimate
Our price target was up to $4.5k for each bike.
With several well-regarded bike shops in our area (central Connecticut) we were confident of completing purchases in relatively straightforward fashion.
The problem then became finding bikes in stock to try, with shops having no bikes or bikes of the wrong size available. Then we read of the Specialized/dealer bust up, found pronounced Ill feeling at one shop, and a lack of commitment to continuing to work with Specialized in another, and despaired of completing the process. The Specialized bikes of interest were available in stock at the online Specialized site, but not at the shops. From chats at the shop, it seemed that there may be issues with parts supplied and service, including warranty service, even if we designated delivery from Specialized in-shop there. We did find the Gazelle C8 locally but not the C380 (closest availability seemed to be NYC) and no follow up contact from that shop regarding future availability of the C380.
Finally, we found all the Specialized bikes of interest on the floor at a shop in Bristol, Connecticut. The shop was clean and the staff personable, friendly and informed. The maintenance shop was openly visible and busy. We were able to quickly do test rides and conclude the purchases. It did turn out though that this shop was a recently acquired Specialized-owned establishment, and this likely was the reason for their flush stocking situation. It appears this will be the Specialized business model moving forward.
Leading up to today, we explored Gazelle, Specialized and Trek on line and then visited bike shops to see and ride the bikes. The candidates from this internet review, including heavy EBR usage, were:
Specialized Vado 4.0
Specialized Como 3.0 igh
Specialized Como 3.0
Specialized Como 4.0
Gazelle C8 ultimate
Gazelle C380 ultimate
Our price target was up to $4.5k for each bike.
With several well-regarded bike shops in our area (central Connecticut) we were confident of completing purchases in relatively straightforward fashion.
The problem then became finding bikes in stock to try, with shops having no bikes or bikes of the wrong size available. Then we read of the Specialized/dealer bust up, found pronounced Ill feeling at one shop, and a lack of commitment to continuing to work with Specialized in another, and despaired of completing the process. The Specialized bikes of interest were available in stock at the online Specialized site, but not at the shops. From chats at the shop, it seemed that there may be issues with parts supplied and service, including warranty service, even if we designated delivery from Specialized in-shop there. We did find the Gazelle C8 locally but not the C380 (closest availability seemed to be NYC) and no follow up contact from that shop regarding future availability of the C380.
Finally, we found all the Specialized bikes of interest on the floor at a shop in Bristol, Connecticut. The shop was clean and the staff personable, friendly and informed. The maintenance shop was openly visible and busy. We were able to quickly do test rides and conclude the purchases. It did turn out though that this shop was a recently acquired Specialized-owned establishment, and this likely was the reason for their flush stocking situation. It appears this will be the Specialized business model moving forward.
